Did You Know: Movies, Television & Streaming

The library isn’t just for books and reading! Use your library card to check out movies, documentaries, television shows on DVD, or use Hoopla to stream directly to the device of your choice.

HCPL has a great collection of DVDs that can be checked out for 14 days. The collection includes lots of favorites, new and old. Catch up on new releases that you might have missed at the theater like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Black Widow from Marvel, or the newest seasons of your favorite TV shows like Call the Midwife and Star Trek: Discovery. You can browse the newest DVDs in our catalog here.

If classic films are more your thing, we’ve got you covered. One of our favorite ways to browse for older titles is to search by an actor – just use the advanced search! Put your favorite star in the author field and limit the format to DVD. You can find fabulous films starring Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Ruby Dee, or Judy Garland.

Just like searching for an actor, you can search for a particular director by using the author field in the advanced search. Some of our favorite directors are Ava Duvernay, Guillermo del Toro, Gus Van Sant, and Kathryn Bigelow.

Hoopla also has a great selection of titles that you can stream from home. Movies and television shows are available to stream for 3 days after checkout, and you get 7 checkouts per month. Use our Getting Started with Hoopla guide or visit Hoopla’s help page to set up your device.

Hoopla curates a bunch of great collections on a variety of topics. Search for your favorites by title, star, or director, or you can browse by decade, genre, or topic. We love their Best of Hoopla: Science Fiction & Fantasy collection, as well as the Asian Cinema, Film Noir, and Oscar Winners & Nominees.

Like most streaming services, films on Hoopla come and go. Be sure to check out their Just Added collection for new films, and keep an eye on what is leaving in January here.  

Hoopla’s new Binge Pass feature allows you to get unlimited access to The Great Courses with a single check out. The Great Courses provide college courses on a wide variety of topics. Browse the collection here.

If you are still not sure what to watch, or need help finding a specific title, ask us! Just use the green “Ask a Librarian” tab on the right hand side of your screen. Or, feel free to give us a call!

This is the first post in our "Did You Know" series, which will highlight a different library resource each month. Stay tuned!